Guide for Authors

Instruction for authors

Introduction

Patient  Safety and quality improvment journal is a leading international peer review journal that consider studies on all aspects of Patient  Safety, including medical, management, diagnostic, treatment, follow up and etc. The journal accepts papers from any country in the world.

The journal covers:

  • The development and integration of quality and safety initiatives into routine practice.
  • Experience of improving practice in all sectors of health care services.
  • The influence of management and organizational learning on the quality and safety of clinical care.
  • The views of consumers and their role as promoters of improved quality and safety in health care.
  • Research relevant to health care quality and safety from a wide range of relevant sources including non-medical domains .

The journal attempts to handle the review process and publication as expeditiously as possible. The review process is usually completed within 4-6 weeks (mean 30 days), but can take longer in some instances.

Article types and word counts:

The journal provides a medium for publication of the following articles:

1.      Original Articles:

Original Articles are full papers describing original research of high scientific level and timeliness. They are definitive reports on a full study. Word count: 1500-8000 words.

Original articles should be presented in sections:

  • Abstract: No more than 250 words
  • Key words: A minimum of 3 are required. These should be presented beneath the Abstract and in the box provided in the online submission process.
  • Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgments and affiliations
  • References: Should not exceed 30.
  • Figure and tables: Maximum of 4 tables and/or figures.

Clinical trial registry:

Reports of randomized clinical trials should present information on all major study elements, including the protocol, assignment of interventions (methods allocation to treatment groups), and the method of masking (blinding), based on the CONSORT Statement (http://www.consort-statement.org). Iranian articles for this sort should be registered first via (www.irct.ir/‎) because no RCT articles are accepted unless it contains the official registered code. Registration in the following trial registers is acceptable as well:

http://www.actr.org.au/

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/

http://isrctn.org/

http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/index.asp

http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr

2.      Short reports

Word count: 750 words or less with no more than 2 Tables or Figures - can be up to 1000 words if only 1 (or no) Table/Figure .

3.      Editorials

Editorials generally the word length will be less than 2000 words, have no more than 20 references, and sometimes have 1 Table or Figure.

4.      Review articles

Word count: up to 3000 words.Tables/illustrations: maximum of 6.References: up to 80.

5.      Letter to the Editor

Letters should not exceed 750 words of text and 10 references. They should be double-spaced and a word count should be provided. Letters may have no more than 3 authors.

Submission: Submissions must be made online at http://psj.mums.ac.ir/contacts?_action=login

Contact Details for Submission:

At the time of submission, complete contact information (affiliation, postal/mail address, e-mail address, telephone and/or fax numbers) for the corresponding author is required First and last names, e-mail addresses, and institutional affiliations of all coauthors are also required. Manuscripts submitted through the online system should not also be submitted by mail or e-mail.

Cover Letter

Include a cover letter and complete contact information for the corresponding author (affiliation, postal/mail address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers) and whether the authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study.

Manuscript Components

Include abstract, No au­thor(s) name, text (Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions, Acknowledgments, Abbreviations and symbols), references, and as appropriate, figure legends, tables, and figures. 

Manuscript File Formats

For submission and review, acceptable manuscript file formats include Word. Do not submit your manuscript in PDF format. Use 10-point font size,Times New Roman, double-space text, and leave right margins unjustified (ragged).

Title Page

The title page should include the title of the article (bold 14-point font size, Times New Roman) and the full names, highest academic degrees, and affiliations of all authors and contact details of corresponding author (Telephone, and E-mail address) If an author’s affiliation has changed since the work was done, the new affiliation also should be listed. An abbreviated title (up to 40 character) for use as a running headline should also be supplied.

Charges: There are no charges for publication in this journal. but the English edition (by the journal’s native editor) are charged accordingly.

Abstracts

Include a structured abstract (objective, material and methods, result, conclusion, key words)of no more than 250 words for reports of original data, systhematic reviews, and meta-analyses. For other major manuscripts, include an unstructured abstract of no more than 250 words that summarizes the objective, main points, and conclusions of the article. Abstracts are not required for Editorials and Viewpoints.

Introduction

Brief description of the background that lead to the study (current results and conclusions should not be included).

Materials and Methods

Details relevant to the conduct of the study. Wherever possible give numbers of subjects studied (not percentages alone). Statistical methods should be clearly explained at the end of this section.

Results

The main outcomes of the study should be reported and quantified, including baseline characteristics and final included/analyzed sample. Include absolute numbers and measures of absolute risks (such as increase/decrease or absolute differences between groups), along with confidence intervals (for example, 95%) or P-values. Approaches such as number needed to treat to achieve a unit of benefit may be included when appropriate.

Discussion

Concisely present the implications of the new findings for the field as a whole, minimizing reiteration of the results, avoiding repetition of material in the introduction, and keeping a close focus on the specific topic of the paper. It also should explore the limitations of the study and the implications of the findings for future research or clinical practice .

Conclusion

Provide only conclusions of the study that are directly supported by the results. Give equal emphasis to positive and negative findings of equal scientific merit.

Acknowledgment

Acknowledgement, sponsorship or grants should be written after the main text and before the references. Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the Acknowledgements section.

Note: as our software sends the  submited manuscript to the reviewer automaticaly, to be ensured of a blind review, the achnowledgment part should be  extracted from the paper and uploaded in title page section.

Tables:

should be numbered with Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text. Title of the table should be placed on top with bold Times New Roman 10-point font size. Information given in tables should  be Times New Roman 9-point font size and sould not be repeated in the body of the text. Please do not send  photo of the table ,instead use the insert table in office word. Explanations concerning tables, e.g. full names of abbreviations should be given in footers below tables and should be consecutively marked: (e.g.*, #, **)

Figures:

Figures and photographs should be numbered with Arabic numerals. Title of the figure should be placed in the bottum with bold Times New Roman 10-point font size. Please do not send  photo of the figure. Figures and artwork should be submitted as separate files in  any format that can be opened using Adobe Photoshop (GIF, JPG, PSD, EPS etc). Figures should be utilized only if they augment understandability of the text. Drawings and graphs should be professionally prepared in deep black and white with no shading. Professionally designed computer generated graphs with a minimum of 300 DPI laser printer output is preferable. Color photographs are welcomed. Vector graphics containing fonts must have the fonts embedded in the files. For lettering the figures, use 8-12 point (only one size)  Helvetica fonts. Name each figure with the word “Fig” followed by figure number without punctuation:  “Fig1”. If you include a figure from previous publication, you must provide permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format.

Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures or tables that have previously been published elsewhere.

Abbreviations and symbols

Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement.

Ethical Considerations

Articles involving clinical research should conform to the guidelines issued in the Declaration of Helsinki where applicable, and in general should have received ethical committee approval.

Authors should seek written and signed consent to publish the information from the patients or their guardians prior to submission. The editorial office may request copies of the informed consent documentation upon submission of the manuscript.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

Copyright Notice

Accepted manuscripts become the perma­nent prop­erty of the Journal and maynot be repro­duced, in whole or in part, with­out the writ­ten per-mis­sion of the Editor.

References

References should be written based on the pattern of Vancouver .Number of sources in the first use of text in braces after the dot and comma at the end of each sentence:

  • When any source, assign a number, each time you return to the sources cited in the text, you can assign the same number.
  • When in the part of text cite to multi-source (the number of them is continuous and burst) Use hyphens (-) for the first sequence number and the last number. For example: (8-3)
  • When in the part of text cite to multi-source (the number of them is not Consecutive) Use commas and no spaces between the number and the next number. For example: (2,6,7,8)  or (2-5 and ,7,10).

 journal articles :

Surnames and initials of the first six authors followed by et al. Title of manuscript. Name of journal (abbreviated according to PubMed) Year; Vol (no): Pages. E.g: Seeff LB, Buskell-Bales Z, Wrught EC, Jackson B, Morris J, Kasseen K, et al. Long term mortality after transfusion associated non A, non B hepatitis. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute study group. N Engl J Med 1992; 27: 1906-11.

Complete Book: 

Surname and initials of the author(s). Name of the book. Edition no. Place of publication: Publisher; Year: Pages. E.g: Kates M. Techniques of Lipidology. 2nd ed. New York: Elsevier; 1992: 172-5.

Chapter of a book:

Surname and initials of the author(s) of the chapter. Title of the chapter. In: surname and initials of the author(s). Name of the book. Edition no. Place of publication: Publisher; Year: Pages. E.g: Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. In: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, eds. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995:
465-78.

Article within conference proceedings:

Bengtsson S, Solheim BG. Enforcement of data protection, privacy and security in medical informatics. Proceedings of the 7th world congress on Medical Informatics; 1992 Sep 6-10; Geneva, Switzerland. 1992: 1561-5.

Report:

Surname and initials of the author(s) of the report. Title of the report. The name of the organization to which the report is written: country, city. Year: Pages. Author (s). Title of the report. A report to x: Country, City. Year: pages. 

Web pages:

Author (s). Title. [cited 2001 Mar 8]. Available from: http://.... 

Thesis:

Surname and initials of the author(s) of the thesis. (dissertation). Title of the Thesis. City: University; Year: pages.

 Note:

If the article is written in another language other than English, the original language of the article comes at the end in prenteses.

Article in persion:

Nedjat S, Majdzadeh R, Rashidian A. Admission of medical students from bachelor’s degree: why?. Hakim Research Journal 2007; 10(2): 1-7. (in persian).

Translated book in persion :

Bagherloo S. End of Traditional Marketing Area. (Translation). Zimen S, ed. 2nd ed. Tehran: Mobaleghan Publication; 2004: 49-50.(in Persian).

Peer review process:

Psj is a peer reviewed journal. All manuscripts will be acknowledged upon presenting to the Journal office, provided that all stated requirements are met. According to the policy of peer review in our Journal, all manuscripts are going through an in-house evaluation process based on maching subject of manuscript to the scientific scope of the Journal. This process takes no more than 5 days and the author(s) will be informed of the primary decision. The first stage passed manuscripts are sent to two or three reviewers. The whole review process depends on receiving referees' comments and revising the manuscripts based on these comments to the author. Upon receiving reviewer comments authors are required to submit the revised manuscript and the reply to reviewers within 5days.On receipt of the revised article from the author, and after final approving by referees, the letter of acceptance is issued to the author.The author can also suggest the name of possible competent reviewers but it is up to the editor to accept it. No article is rejected unless negative comments are received from at least two reviewers.The revised version of the manuscript should be included with reply to referees’ comments separately point by point. In addition, the changes should be marked as underlined or colored text in the article. The Editorial Board of the journal, reserves the right to accept or reject the article in any stage and any time or delete a part of the text, tables or figures, if necessary. More information is available from the Journal office addressed bellow:

Address: Imam Reza hospital, Daneshghah Street, Mashhad, Iran.
Tel: +98 - 51 - 38023561
Fax: +98 - 51 - 38521119
Email: psj@mums.ac.ir
 

Authorship Responsibility form